Itanagar: Testifying the country’s thriving boxing ecosystem, India’s junior boxing head coach Vinod Kumar feels that the level of the sport has improved by leaps over the years and the ongoing 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championship here will unearth a few more up-and-coming pugilists hoping to make a mark in the national circuit.
Hailing from Bhiwani in Haryana, considered the nursery of Indian boxing, Kumar has been associated with coaching young boxers for a long time, and is in the hilly Northeastern city to spot a few young guns for a possible spot in the junior national side for the upcoming Asian championship.
“We have very talented youngsters coming up these days. The level of competition has increased a lot. As a result, the overall performance has improved,” said Kumar.
“I have great hope from these boys. They have been fighting so well and once they graduate to the senior level, they will improve a lot,” he added.
Analysing the quality of Indian boxing across all age groups and senior categories, Kumar believes that the boxers have grown in confidence over the years.
“Indian boys and girls have started to fight well. If you observe closely, many of them have won their bouts and even when they lost, they gave a good fight. So, it’s a great sign. I think it will improve in the days to come,” he said.
The 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championship got off to a rousing start on Sunday with as many as 34 bouts being contested in the preliminary rounds after Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu formally inaugurated the event in the presence of Boxing Federation of India (BFI) secretary general Hemanta Kumar Kalita.
Interestingly, this is for the first time that Itanagar is hosting a national-level tournament, and quite expectedly the stakes are high.
Appreciating the role of the BFI in letting Itanagar host the championship, Kumar said, “It’s a very good thing that the BFI has allotted Itanagar to conduct this event. The arrangements have been great. Boxing should spread to every nook and corner of the country.”
Home favourite Gayki Rie got Arunachal’s campaign to a winning start by defeating Jharkhand’s Amit Kumar by 5-0 unanimous decision verdict in the light bantam weight 52 kg category on Day 1 of the competition. Nagaland’s Bishal Singh also advanced to the next round in the 57kg feather weight category after recording a resounding win by RSC (Referee Stop Contest) over Tripura’s Prasanta Debnath.
With 367 participants representing 35 states and Union Territories, the 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championship is being held at the Don Bosco College ground. The championship will conclude on July 14.
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Sharing his thoughts on the impressive Indian roster for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, Kumar expects a rich haul of medals from the contingent led by the Assam duo of Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and the experienced campaigner Shiva Thapa, a record six-time Asian Championships medallist.
“We have a very good team with Lovlina (Borgohain), Nikhat (Zareen), Preeti and all. So, I’m hopeful of a good number of medal hauls. Even the men’s team is composed of Shiva (Thapa) and others who are capable of beating any boxer in Asia in their weight categories,” he said.
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